Bioshock is normally a game I don't have to talk about since most people already know what the first game acomplished. Second game didn't quite follow in it's footsteps as a whole package. It was extremely fun but the expected narrative was much lacking comparing it to the original. Rest assured, for this game not only does it meet the high expectations people have put on but it also far exceeds what in both gameplay and narrative compared to the original.

A big design change was that the main character has a name and a voice. This was perhaps questionable prior to people playing the game, however after finishing the game it was the correct decision in retrospect. The game plays out much like the first two Bioshock games. you use guns and special powers which are called Vigors this time around. They are for gameplay purposes exactly the same as plasmids. Using a special resoarce called salts you can do all the various supernatural attacks and utilities that the game introduced in 2007. There are slight refinment to this. Each vigor has two uses and two unique upgrades. This combined with the rather large varitey of firearms and passive abilities called gear one has incredible amount of choice in approaching combat situations. Never throughout the game have I felt that I didn't have enough options in combat. Experiment, specialize and rejoice. If you love shooters like this you will be as a child in a candy store.

The upgrade system has been standardized. Your guns and vigors are upgraded via vendors using money. Health , salt and shield upgrades are done via item found in game, and passive ability gear items are found throughout the game. It's simple but also limited that you have to specialize somewhat. You surely won't be upgrading everything. For combat this is a great replaybility value. Only small setback is that you can have two weapons with you at a time (vigors you have all on hand). This didn't deter me much from the game though.

Then comes the narrative. This was a tall order to fill. Especially after how well Rapture with Andrew Ryan was done. You are thrown into a colorful city of Columbia with one purpose "Bring us the girl and whipe away the debt".Soon you will get caught in the struggle between the city founder the great prophet Comstock and the racially oppressed Vox Populi. For a large part of the game this felt a lot like war in Rapture between Ryan and Fontaine, except you participated and not just collected the bits from aftermath. In a word that was awesome. But more importantly this isn't necessary the focus of the story. Booker and Elizabeth are. The game makes you care about these characters, and their tale is one that people will remember many years from now. The voice acting, the atmosphere, recorded messages. They are all amazing. One thing this game succedes in is bringing out the small details. People's conversation on streets, posters, signs and adds. There is also a bit there Fortunate Son played and I felt extremely warm inside getting lost in this world. Rapture was breathtaking and one of the best places to explore but it doesn't compare how well Columbia is presented to the player.

So where does the overall story stands. It passes with flying colors (pun intended). I can say without a doubt that if you have an open mind for a complex and meaningful story this will be one of the greatest stories you have seen in a video game. I only expect a narrative this good from books. I personally have not seen a finer game narrative since Legacy of Kain and Planescape Torment.

Overall I recommend this game with zeal. Even if you aren't a player of FPS games, you should consider this one for the narrative and experience. Games like this make me feel really good that I play games, and it puts a more known benchmark for story driven games.

Going into this game felt like a mixture of a lot of solid popular titles from the past. A stealth game with rpg elements, super powers, open world and choice packed in a steam punk environment. This all felt like mashing together Deus Ex, Thief, Bioshock, System Shock etc. The final product is well interesting.

While this game has some setbacks, first off what this game does fairly well is create a really fun super power stealth experience. While some powers take the chalange completely out of the game the fun factor from the core gameplay is immense. Game is broken up into missions, which have their own big level zones. You have objectives to acomplish within that level and are given a large amount of freedom in persuing how that is done. This is done very much like Deus Ex and it's great. There are non lethal solutions to every level, you can finish the entire game without killing anyone. The powers and gadgets combine extremely well. There is a huge amount of ways to mix and match your arsenal for various goals. The only notable downside in gameplay is lack of non lethal approaches. While the non lethal boss aproaches are all unique, the rest of the game boils down to the three: avoid, choke or sleep dart. This feels gimped since there are HUGE numbers of ways to kill. All of your offensive powers kill or harm, there are no powers which affect enemies in a non lethal way. It's not bad, but it gets a tad repetitive going through the level and doing the same three things to everyone. Difficulty can be a setback if you were looking for it. Even on hard mode with avoiding some powers the game is still easy. Your basic blink alone makes the game rather easy as opposed to some other stealth titles.

The other big complaint is the story and characters. This game was hyped with it's setting and narrative. It starts out strong, but that's as high as it gets. The plot is predictable, simple and forgettable. You don't form any sympathetic bond with any characters (including Corvo). There was just no reason to feel one way or another for any of them. The story conclusion is also rather weak. It builds it up to a dramatic peek just to have it flatline sharply. Even the "twist" moment in the game was predictably dissapointing. Don't expect "Would you kindly" revelation here.

In conclusion this game proved to be quite enjoyable. The gameplay execution is fantastic. Powers, gadgets and stealth assasin come together in a wondeful fashion, however it does somewhat suffer from lack of chalange, non lethal core gameplay and the overall narrative. If you want a fun stealth superpower game to play, this is definately one to play, just don't expect a first rate novel out of it.

It was difficult to gauge what this game was going to be comparing it to the first game. In this game you get to play as Death in contrast to more bland War that featured the first game.

There are two things about this game. One it improves on the original in almost every way. The gameplay is still similar but now it's more responsive, deeper, more chalanging and enjoyable. The entire game offers a fairly decent campaign which will take around 30 hours or so depending on your skill level and difficulty. The overall challange is not like Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden, but it still offers a great experience where you can't button mash out of every sequence.

The combat in this game is in a word "fun". Death is fluid, agile and quick, unlike the tanky slow War. Also now you level up and allocate skill points each level to customize how you want to play.

The exploration and puzzles are excellent. It was good in the first game, but now it goes beyond that by a good amount. There are many optional puzzles, objectives, bosses and collectibles to keep you busy for a while. In terms of time and replaybility this game will deliver (perhaps not like Elder Scrolls or Fallout games but still significant)

The huge downside of this game is the obvious case of bad porting. The menu icons are not scaled to proper resolution. Menu itself is very clunky and rebinding keys is a pain. There is also very little game options available in general. This is a really crappy port.

If you can set aside the bad porting job, this game offers a great advanture and fun gameplay which will keep you busy for a good amount of time.